Things to Do in Kelowna & Okanagan Valley

Iceland’s principal art gallery, located on the banks Reykjavik’s Tjörnin Lake, the National Gallery of Iceland houses a vast collection of 19th and 20th century Icelandic art, alongside works by international artists like Pablo Picasso, Edward Munch, Karel Appel, Victor Vasarely and Richard Serra. The museum’s permanent collection, containing around 10,000 works, is showcased through a series of rotating exhibitions, spread throughout 3 floors of gallery space. Among the highlights are pieces by famed Icelandic artists like Þórarinn B. Þorláksson, Jóhannes Sveinsson Kjarval, Bjarni Jónsson and Einar Hákonarson, along with a variety of modern sculptures, installations and paintings by new and upcoming artists.

Founded in 1884 to house the personal art collection of Icelandic lawyer Björn Bjarnarson, the National Gallery was originally based in Copenhagen, Denmark, and a number of key works by Danish artists like Joakim Skovgaard, Christian Blache and Peter Krøyer nod to its birthplace. Landing on Icelandic shores in 1916, the gallery was adopted as a department of Iceland’s National Heritage Museum, making it the country’s oldest art institution.

Founded in 1864, the National Gallery of Ireland holds works spanning the 13th to 21st century. In addition to its comprehensive collection of Irish art, including paintings by Jack B. Yeats (brother of poet W.B. Yeats), the gallery also has pieces by European artists such as Rembrandt, Titian, Goya, and Picasso.

Affiliated with but not a part of the Smithsonian, the National Gallery needs two buildings (connected by an underground tunnel) to house its stunning collections (more than 110,000 objects) of painting, sculpture, and decorative arts from the Middle Ages to the present. Kids love the walking escalator that traverses the two buildings and conveniently empties into the airy cafeteria where you can press your nose against the giant sheet of glass and look out onto a cascading waterfall.

The original neoclassical building, known as the West Building, exhibits primarily European works, from the Middle Ages to the early 20th century, including pieces by El Greco, Monet, and Cézanne. Don't miss the room full of Renoirs, including the famous Girl with a Hoop.

Across 4th Street NW, the angular East Building is where you'll find the Calder mobile along with other abstract and modern works. Across 7th Street from the West Wing sits the National Gallery Sculpture Garden, a beautifully landscaped park of open lawns, a pool with a spouting fountain, and 17 sculptures. In warm weather, people linger for lunch on the wide rim of the pool.

Located just across the traffic circle from India Gate along Rajpath, the National Gallery of Modern Art was opened in 1954 as a place to feature contemporary Indian art. Housed within the former palace of the maharaja of Jaipur, the museum houses a collection of works by Indian and British artists from 1850 onward.

One of the most fascinating things about visiting the museum is seeing how differently modern art developed in India compared to the United States or Europe. With a collection spanning 150 years, browsing the galleries is akin to a crash course in modern Indian art history. Combine your visit with a stop at the nearby National Museum to complete the picture.

This moving monument that features a bronze sculpture of two Japanese cranes trapped in barbed wire pays homage to the Japanese Americans, veterans and those who were kept in internment camps after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Visitors will find a massive granite wall with names of the 10 camps where more than 120,000 people were held captive on American soil, as well as three panels covered in names honoring Japanese Americans who died while fighting World War II. There are also dozens of quotes from Japanese American writers gracing the unique memorial.

Travelers say this small gem, hidden among more epic D.C. structures is a sad but moving memorial that serves as a reminder of the horrors of war, the ugliness of humanity and the power of the human spirit to overcome even the most difficult adversities.

Largely geared toward children but still enjoyable for adults, this small museum at National Geographic’s headquarters offers a handful of rotating exhibits combining the magazine’s exciting photography with discoveries in history, science and/or technology. Past exhibitions have included technology gleaned from the ancient Muslim world, and photos of the sunken Titanic.